She's going again. She's freakin' huge.

She has been holding these eggs a little longer than I would like. So when that happens I take a block of coco fiber and stuff it under some cork bark. Its very light and moist and she seems to dig that. Hey...dig that...get it? (boooo!). She's not way overdue and generally she just used the normal dirt that I have in there but Id like to get those eggs OUT. Here she is tearing up the coco.

Looks good V! So how long do you think it'll be before she lays?

Good stuff big V!!!!

mmm.. I call bs.. the date stamp says those pics were taken in 2005!!

j/k - looking good man! Hopefully that fat lil gal will drop some eggs soon for ya!

How hard are they to incubate?

Thats awesome V and Congrats :cheers::cheers:

She is huge!!

Looks good V! So how long do you think it'll be before she lays?

She is actively doing test digs right now. Diggin' around trying to find a spot that she likes. Usually once that party has begun you can expect eggs pretty soon. It varies but 5-10 days is about average for me. Could go a little longer.

She is still feeding. And again all these guys vary. But I know my animals pretty well. When this one refuses food she will drop those eggs within 1-3 days.

Then once she comes out of the hole stand back cause its time to ring the dinner bell.

mmm.. I call bs.. the date stamp says those pics were taken in 2005!!

j/k - looking good man! Hopefully that fat lil gal will drop some eggs soon for ya!

How hard are they to incubate?

:lol: Yeah I really gotta figure out how to change that date stamp, dont I?

They are a little tricky to incubate. Its a very long incubation. 90-120 being average. And if anything goes wrong in that period of time they go down. Monitor eggs are more sensitive than say colurbid eggs or gecko eggs. Ive had both success and failure with clutches. Ive had 100% hatch and Ive had whole clutches go down with fully formed babies inside. So not easy, but not impossible.

I believe the mositure inside the egg box is very important. The 1:1 ratio of water to vermiculite/perlite is too wet. The babies drown or the eggs rot. Ive been going with 10 parts perlite to 8 parts water and that seems to work better. And I have been seriously thinking of using the grid technique on this clutch so the eggs dont come in contact with the substrate. Similar to what you see with green tree python eggs or woma eggs. Hell, Ive seen a lot of folks using that method with all sorts of eggs and having success.

I would by lying if I said I knew every nuance of varanid incubation. Im constantly tweaking and trying to learn more.

She looks so uncomfortable

Good tips V'ster!

She looks so uncomfortable

She is not a happy camper. You should see her struggle to climb to the top of the Retes stack. Thats why Im trying to help her get those eggs out. I wish I knew lamaze :D

Ok brothers heres to another long wait...:rockon:

Ok brothers heres to another long wait...:rockon:

:lmao:

More pics to come sometime in August-September! Hang in there everybody!

I have 4 eggs though in the 'bator that were laid 1/25/09 so they should be done soon. :D

Hope she gives you some eggs soon. We want 2005 pics when she does finally lay them for you. LOL

I don't know how you monitor guys and gals wait that long........! I lose sleep just by waiting 50-60 days for some snake eggs................!

Wow!! Two clutches! I didn't know they did that. She does look uncomfortable.

Congrats Vman!

looking good v

Wow!! Two clutches! I didn't know they did that. She does look uncomfortable.

Yeah they can do 3-6 clutches a year. Although I have only seen them do 3. But I have read 6 is possible. Perhaps when they are a bit larger and older. Regardless, Im content with 2-3 clutches. It does do a bit of a number on the female.

Yeah, she's not comfy at all. Not much longer and she'll be lean and mean again. And very hungry :D

She is not a happy camper. You should see her struggle to climb to the top of the Retes stack. Thats why Im trying to help her get those eggs out. I wish I knew lamaze :D


WOULD YOU BE?????? Shehas like 8-12 eeeeeeeeeeeegg in her....I'd be CRABBY PATTY!!!!!

You look at her and ya just wanna HELP...b/c she's such a sweet wonderful monitor...ahem mean, killing machine.

ahem mean, killing machine.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Your welcome.....:)

Best of luck getting the eggs out of her.

Thinking about the grid technique, you might consider what we gecko people do with hard-shell eggs: We "float" the eggs on a chosen substrate (I use dry aquatic pondsoil) that is on a bottle top (obviously in your case you'd use something larger). Then under that "cap" you have the wet substrate. The eggs get the humidity they need, are secured in their position, and never touch wet substrate. If it isn't clear, I can get some pics later to illustrate what I'm trying to explain. Like I said, same principle as the grid technique, but seems to make the eggs less susceptible to damage on the grids or movement...

Oh thats awesome. Best of luck.

Congrats man, cool as hell!

that's awesome V !
psyched for 'ya brotha, hope they're all good.
with i could have one...
but it's not in the stars.
best of luck,
ck

Any eggs yet?

Any eggs yet?

Not yet but she's diggin'.

Not yet but she's diggin'.

Well I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that she gives you many fertile eggs.

Well I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that she gives you many fertile eggs.

Big X2 on that one! We all know V needs more lizards over there :lol:

J/k Good luck big guy!

thats awsome congrats